Ugly
by ihatewriting
Summary: Now that Ino is no longer beautiful, she thinks that no one will ever want her. Kiba disagrees. Oneshot. KibaIno.


"God, you should take a bath. You're starting to smell like Akamaru."

"Thanks," he grinned at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and rubbed Akamaru's head.

Ino proceeded to walk over to the small lake near where they had set up camp. Maybe a bath doesn't sound so bad, he thought. He normally wouldn't mind stripping himself down and jumping in the cold water in the middle of nowhere, but she'd probably start yelling at him.

Instead, he watched her lean over the pond to gaze at her own rippled reflection. The sight reminded him of a painting he saw once—the one with the guy who fell in love with his own reflection that he didn't even notice the naked chick right next to him. His name was Narcissus or something like that. What a loser.

He knew Ino was always a bit self-absorbed. Emphasis on _was_. It was hard to be, now that she looked like _that_, he thought. Almost on cue, she tucked her bangs behind her left ear to get a better, more honest view of herself. A gaping hole occupied the space where her cheek used to be, creating the appearance of a constant one-sided grin. A small but ghastly scar graced her left eyelid. Kiba was surprised that she was able to do her hair in such a way that almost completely covered that side of her face.

"I used to be so hot, you know."

It was unexpected. He had seen her cry before. Not that that was unusual, she's still a girl after all, he thought. But she wasn't one to share her vulnerabilities. She was usually headstrong, sometimes ill tempered, rather vain, but rarely sad. Their conversations always involved playful banter or meaningless arguments. This was the first time he wasn't sure what to say to her.

"Tch, you were alright."

This irked her. She was not used to having men say she was anything less than beautiful. But then she found herself feeling relieved. Maybe he would be one of the few people who wouldn't think this change was such a big deal. She laughed against her will, the hole in her face contorting to allow a genuine smile.

"Asshole."

He grinned back bearing his large canines, not taking his eyes off of her. And that rarely happened nowadays. Other people usually could not help but look away, either out of pity or fright from her perpetual and fleshless grin. He walked over to the lake to sit next to her.

"When I get back," he said, "I'm gonna get laid."

She laughed. "I _wish _I could get laid." He knew she meant to joke, but even her mirthless laughter could not disguise her melancholic heart.

"Was that an invitation?"

His heart skipped a beat when he realized she started to cry. His instinct was to put his arms around her and hold her until things were okay again, to tell her to cry her heart out and that he won't let anything happen to her. But he didn't.

"You know, I think I have the potential to be a good ninja, I really do" she said, rubbing her arms. "But…" she interrupted herself as she choked on a sob. He lifted her into his lap and she, surprisingly enough, did not resist.

"You know, I don't think I'll ever be a great one. Not as good as Sakura at least. So I told myself, 'Well, at least I can still have lots of fun. I can date a bunch of hot guys before I become old and fat. And maybe even marry some great guy.' But now no one can even look at my face. And it's not like I can even make out with someone without drool coming out of this fucking hole—"

"Ino," he interrupted, "I know I make fun of you for being annoying—and you are—but I'm honestly always kinda taken aback by how kind you are." Their fingers were intertwined now.

"You know this wouldn't have happened—" he touched the bad side of her face, "—if you didn't care as much as you did about Sakura. And I respect you even more for that." His arms enveloped her, and just for a second she forgot what she was crying about.

"And if you don't believe me, just ask Akamaru. He's a better judge of character than I am, and he's crazy about you. I'll admit, sometimes you're way too girly, and you even smell too girly, but you're strong when you wanna be. As far as I'm concerned, you're a pretty amazing lady."

She turned her head to look at him, "Kiba, you're a good friend, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," he laughed, "But I mean it. You're amazing. Any man who doesn't see that is blind."

She smiled and rubbed his arms. "Kiba, do you think I can still get married looking like this?"

"Why not? I don't think you look as bad as you think you do." He thought for a moment. "But then again I'm not really into blondes. Well, hey, you still have a great rack!"

"You're right!" She seemed to light up at that.

"God, you're kinda slow sometimes." They laughed for a minute before a comfortable silence ensued.

"Kiba?"

"Yeah?"

"Hold me while I sleep?"

"Yeah."

That night, he vowed to cherish her. The same night, unbeknownst to him, she vowed to protect him for always.


End file.
